NASA says huge, 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will break into Earth's orbit next week
An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is heading towards Earth this month and it’s considered an especially unique piece of rock by scientists.
The asteroid 4660 Nereus is classified as a “potentially hazardous” piece of rock because of its proximity to Earth. On Dec. 11, NASA expects it to be at its closest point to Earth over a 20-year period. The asteroid was discovered back in 1982.
The 4660 Nereus is a 330-meter asteroid in the shape of an egg and within the next week scientists anticipate it will come within 2.5 million miles from Earth. Despite that sounding like an incredibly far away distance, it’s about ten times farther away than the moon, which is considered close by cosmic standards.
NASA considers a near-Earth object to be an asteroid or comet that comes within approximately 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit.
According to an analysis by Forbes, Nereus has been a proposed target for a space mission multiple times, because of its egg shape, size and orbital path around the sun it makes for an ideal asteroid to visit.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/583770-nasa-says-huge-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-will
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